Biography

Professor Miao is an eminent scholar in the field of epidemiology, and currently serves as the Dean of the School of Public Health at Wuhan University.

Prof. Miao received his B.M. in clinical medicine from Zhejiang University in 2000 and Ph.D. in oncology from Peking Union Medical College in 2005. He completed postdoctoral training and held the position of assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong, specializing in genetic epidemiology. Following this, he assumed the role of a professor in Epidemiology in Huazhong University of Science and Technology. In 2021, he joined Wuhan University as an academic leader in the Department of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health.

Prof. Miao's research focus primarily revolves around the molecular epidemiology of environment and cancer. His extensive research efforts encompass the exploration of genetic susceptibility and disease molecular mechanisms, investigations into gene-environment interactions, and the development of advanced tumor risk prediction models. Prof. Miao has published over 300 scholarly papers in prestigious journals such as Lancet Oncol, Ann Oncol, Nat Genet, Gastroenterology and Cancer Res, collectively accumulating more than 25,000 citations. His scholarly influence is further underscored by the H-index of 73. Notably, he has been recognized as a highly cited Chinese scholar by Elsevier for three consecutive years (2020-2022).

Research

Prof. Miao’s research interest lies in molecular epidemiology, with an emphasis on the genetic susceptibility and molecular mechanisms of digestive system cancers. Through integrating population studies in large cohorts with in-depth functional studies in cells and animals, he conducts research in the following areas:

1. Genetic susceptibility to complex disease in populations;

2. Mechanisms of cancer predisposition and biological function of genetic variation;

3. Environmental pollutants and health, Gene-Environment interaction;

Cancer screening and risk prediction.

Representative  Publications

1. Ying P^#; Chen C^#; Lu Z^#;...; Tian J^*; Miao X^*. Genome-wide enhancer-gene regulatory maps link causal variants to target genes underlying human cancer risk. Nature communications, 2023; 14: 5958.

2. Li B^#; Cai Y^#; Chen C^#; ...; Tian J^*; Miao X^*. Genetic variants that impact alternative polyadenylation in cancer represent candidate causal risk loci. Cancer Research, 2023;83(21):3650-3666.

3. Zhang M^#; Chen C^#; Lu Z^#; ...;Tian J^*; Miao X^*. Genetic Control of Alternative Splicing and its Distinct Role in Colorectal Cancer Mechanisms. Gastroenterology, 2023; 165(5):1151-1167.

4. Tian J^#; Chen C^#; Rao M^#; …;Yang X^*; Miao X^*. Aberrant RNA Splicing Is a Primary Link between Genetic Variation and Pancreatic Cancer Risk. Cancer Research, 2022; 82(11): 2084-2096.

5. Tian J^#; Cai Y^#; …; Miao X^*. CancerImmunityQTL: a database to systematically evaluate the impact of genetic variants on immune infiltration in human cancer. Nucleic Acids Research, 2021; 47(D1): 1065-1073.

6. Tian J, et al; …; Chang J^*, Miao X^*. Aberrant MCM10 SUMOylation induces genomic instability mediated by a genetic variant associated with survival of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 2021, 11(6): e485.

7. Tian J^#; Zhu Y^#; Rao M; …; Chang J^*; Miao X^*. N6-methyladenosine mRNA methylation of PIK3CB regulates AKT signalling to promote PTEN-deficient pancreatic cancer progression. Gut. 2020;69(12): 2180-2192.

8. Tian J^#; Lou J^#; Cai Y; …; Miao X^*. Risk SNP-Mediated Enhancer-Promoter Interaction Drives Colorectal Cancer through Both FADS2 and AP002754.2. Cancer Research. 2020, 80(9): 1804-1818.

9. Tian J^#; Yuan X^#; Xiao J^#; Zhong Q ^#; Yang C^#; Liu B^#; Cai Y^#; Lu Z^#; …; Miao X; Wang Z^*. Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors Associated with COVID-19 Disease Severity in Patients with Cancer in Wuhan, China: A Multicentre Retrospective Cohort Study. Lancet Oncology. 2020,21(7): 893-903.（co-senior author）

10. Zhong R^#; Tian J^#; …; Miao X^*. LINC01149 variant modulates MICA expression that facilitates hepatitis B virus spontaneous recovery but increases hepatocellular carcinoma risk. Oncogene. 2020; 39(9): 1944-1956.

11. Tian J^#; Chang J^#; Gong J^#; …; Miao X^*. Systematic Functional Interrogation of Genes in GWAS Loci Identified ATF1 as a Key Driver in Colorectal Cancer Modulated by a Promoter-Enhancer Interaction. American Journal of Human Genetics. 2019.7.3, 105(1): 29-47.

12. Yang Y; et al; …; Chang J^*; Miao X^*. AWESOME: a database of SNPs that affect protein post-translational modifications. Nucleic Acids Research. 2019.1.8, 47(D1): 874-880.

13. Tian J^#; Wang Z ^#; …; Gong J^*; Han L ^*; Miao X^*. CancerSplicingQTL: a database for genome-wide identification of splicing QTLs in human cancer. Nucleic Acids Research. 2019.1.8, 47(D1): 909-916.

14. Chang J^#; Zhong R^#; Tian J^#; Li J^#; …; Wu C ^*; Miao X^*; Lin D. Exome-wide analyses identify low-frequency variant in CYP26B1 and additional coding variants associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Nature Genetics. 2018, 50(3): 338-343.

15. Gong J^#; Tian J^#; …; Miao X^*; A polymorphic MYC response element in KBTBD11 influences colorectal cancer risk, especially in interaction with an MYC-regulated SNP rs6983267. Annals of Oncology. 2018, 29(3): 632-639.

16. Chang J^#; Tian J^#; Yang Y^#; Zhong R^#; Li J^#; …; Miao X^*. A rare missense variant in TCF7L2 associates with colorectal cancer risk by interacting with a GWAS-identified regulatory variant in the MYC enhancer. Cancer Research. 2018.9.1, 78(17): 5164-5172.

17. Zou D^#; …; Gong J^*; Miao X^*. Integrative expression quantitative trait locus-based analysis of colorectal cancer identified a functional polymorphism regulating SLC22A5 expression. European Journal of Cancer. 2018.4.1, 93: 1-9.